On Thursday October 20, Gauteng motorists will have to ask themselves: Do I leave my car behind for one day?
Car-Free Day, an initiative from the Gauteng department of transport, challenges motorists to take responsibility for their driving habits.
”We encourage people to leave their car at home and travel with public transport,” departmental spokesperson Alfred Nhlapo told the Mail & Guardian Online on Wednesday. ”I understand the issue of air pollution to some people seems superficial. But there are other considerations, like promoting public transport against the high price of petrol.”
In a meeting of provincial ministers earlier this year, the ministry of transport decided on Car-Free Day because worsening traffic congestion in Gauteng can be eased by more people starting to use public transport.
Nhlapo said: ”We talk to the people who work for transport companies and get stakeholders like Absa and Nedbank to participate.”
The precise sections of the province where Car-Free Day will be implemented are not known yet, but it will involve Johannesburg’s inner city. A publicity campaign that starts later this week in community and mainstream media, focusing on radio, will provide precise information.
This Car-Free Day will be the first one ever held in South Africa. Other countries, including some in Europe, have yearly car-free days. In The Netherlands and Belgium, these fall on Sundays, and aim to battle air pollution rather than promote public transport.
The last such day held in Brussels, Belgium, on September 18 was a huge success. Only people with a special licence were allowed to drive in the Belgian capital. Because 80% of Brussels residents were in favour of car-free day, authorities closed off the whole city.
”In line with Car-Free Day is the commuter organisation [for] Gauteng that we are going to start. In the next month, there will be several regional meetings where delegates will be chosen, people who are relevant in the local communities.
”On October 25, these delegates will vote for the leadership of the organisation. In this way, the commuters [will] have an impact on the development of public transport. Commuters have the right to shape public transport,” said Nhlapo.